Massachusetts Medical Society v. Michael S. Dukakis

BREYER, Circuit Judge.

This case concerns the legal status of “balance billing” within the federal Medicare program. Balance billing is the practice by which a doctor bills a patient for the balance of the doctor’s fee over and above the amount that the Medicare program has determined to be a “reasonable charge.” Massachusetts has enacted a statute that forbids balance billing. Chapter 475 of the Massachusetts Acts of 1985 directs the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine to

require as a condition of granting or renewing a physician’s certificate of registration, that the physician,…